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Joined by our passion for meat, beer, cards and meat, we created a compitition bbq team to partake in just that.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Farmer John Hawaiian Fatty

Farmer John Hawaiian Fatty - aka - 808 State Fatty

Part 1 in a series of "What to do with your left over Farmer John Ham". You made a mouth watering ham for your holiday meat guests and there's some left over. The standard Ham & Cheese sandwich sounds good but how about making something that will knock the socks off of your New Years weekend guests?!? Rose Bowl, Pro Football or even Basketball fans need something to snack on while they are watching the game. This snack is perfect for Padre fans but even a Dodger fan could appreciate the awesomeness that is the 808 State Fatty!

808 State is slang for anything Hawaiian - because the area code for any telephone number in Hawaii is 808. Cool right?!?

Farmer John is a very popular pork processor / producer here in Southern California. They are responsible for the very popular Dodger Dog. Even a hard core San Diego Padre fan can appreciate the succulent Dodger Dog - or as us Padre fans call them - Hot Dogs. You can't attend a BBQ in SoCal without feasting on a Farmer John product hitting the table making them one of the icons and favorites at any family outing - particularly at my house!
If you haven't heard of a Fatty - it's also called a Bacon Explosion - it's basically a basket weave layer of bacon, a layer of sausage, and then a stuffing of whatever you want! The ideas are limitless! In this episode we are making the famous 808 State Fatty - all things Hawaiian AND Farmer John - focusing on our left over holiday Ham.

I love to use fresh pineapple but of you can't find it, canned pineapple will do in a pinch.

I like to slice the pineapple in 1" wide x 1" thick strips.

Family secret here! WARNING! Only pass this secret off to people you love! Put 2lbs of sausage into a 1 gallon zip lock bag. Farmer John breakfast links do not have a casing so they are really easy to use. An alternate is Farmer John sausage that comes in a "chub" pack. They usually come in a 1lb tube in various flavors.

Put 2lbs of sausage in the zip lock bag and squeeze all the air out of it and flatten it out.

Family secret #3 - I'm letting it all out here! Stretch the Farmer John Thick Cut Bacon as you pull it out of the package. The bacon will stretch an extra 5 - 6 inches. You'll see why next!

You can see how much you can stretch the bacon!

Now it's time to weave the bacon. Remember the stretch? Here's why: If you stretch the bacon out, the fatty will be BIGGER! You will be able to make a 16" x 16" square. If you don't stretch the bacon, the strips of bacon will be about 11".

The bacon weave is the most intimidating part of this recipe. It isn't difficult - in fact, my 7 year old daughter weaved this one. Lay out the strips of bacon until it is a square shape. Then lift up alternating pieces and lay another strip of bacon the opposite direction.

Put the bacon strips back and then pull back the alternate strip of bacon back so the next strip can lay down.

Keep this process down until you have completed the weave.

Make sure that each strip of bacon is put as close as possible to the neighbor strip. This is important to ensure the weave doesn't burst and the filling doesn't leak out.

Here's the finished weave. Notice how tight the gaps are. This is the key to making a stunning looking Fatty that doesn't leak.

Take your time and make the weave tight!

Remember the 2lbs of sausage that you made into a flat layer of goodness in the 1 gallon zip lock bag? Now it's time to put that Farmer John flavor to use! Use a knife and cut / open the sides of the gallon bag. You can now lay down the layer on top of the weave. The layer will be even and easy to lay down onto the bacon weave.

These two steps are the basis of all Fatty's. Now let's stuff it with goodness!

We are making the famous 808 State Fatty. That means fresh pineapple and Farmer John Ham.

Now we are going to add a block of cream cheese. Form it into a log about the width of the sausage layer.

808 State Fatty? Only if you add some Hawaiian King Rolls! Take 5 rolls and squish them flat!

Place the flattened Hawaiian King Rolls across the width of the sausage layer.

Remember Family Secret #2? Assembling the Fatty on Heavy Duty foil? Now you'll see why.

It's really tough to roll up a fat roll of goodness but if you can use the heavy duty foil to assist in rolling all of this chow into a solid log, you'll be ready for the big time!

Use the foil to make sure that you can roll all this stuff into a log. Compress the stuffing into the middle.

The end result should look like this - a log of meat surrounded by a bacon weave blanket. You can wrap the fatty into the foil and store it for a day or so if you aren't ready to cook it immediately.

The nice, tight weave will make sure the stuffing stays inside. I put this on the smoker at 250F for 4 hours. The cooking utensil I'm cooking on is called a Frogmat. These utensils can be used in any indirect cooking surface including your oven and they are completely safe to cook on. These are great to cook on because they can help cook fragile items like - gulp - vegetables, or better yet - Fatty's - and left them off the grate without breaking them apart. Well worth the money to be part of any serious BBQ'r arsenal.

After you reach the internal temp of 160F, let your fatty rest for about 10 - 20 minutes on the counter until you slice it. I slice the fatty along each strip of bacon. It's ready to eat at this point - but - if you're really adventurous.... keep reading!

Secret #4 - make the fatty slices.....'

......the most memorable slices of goodness in anyone's memory.....

Poach an egg for each person's slice of fatty....

Place a slice of fatty on top of an English Muffin, top with a poached egg, layer with a super soaked hollandaise sauce and garnish with some fresh cracked black pepper, pink sea salt and some green onions (scallions).

THE perfect meal, appetizer, late night snack, or money dish for any occasion - all because of your left over Holiday Ham!

Thanks Farmer John!

Note: Farmer John supplied me with the Half Ham used in this recipe. All other ingredients were purchased for this recipe by me. I might have had some in my fridge.

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